Photovoltaic Solar Power Growing Fast in Spain

Photovoltaic solar power plants are springing up throughout Spain, capitalising on special tariffs for renewable energies and exceeding the government’s expectations. With the current momentum, Spain will be easily over its 400 MW target for 2010 by next summer, possibly having somewhere between 800 MW and 1,200 MW, according to the Industry Ministry. "We already have 80 percent of the target," Industry Minister Joan Clos said at a European energy conference in Madrid earlier in October. Feed-in tariffs, initiated in 2004 to reach the European Union’s goal of increasing renewable energy use to 20 percent by 2020, guarantee energy produced from renewable resources will be bought at three times the normal market value for 25 years. "It’s an attractive business for financial entities and promoters," said Francisco Garcia, manager of Spanish electrical installation company Elecnor’s photovoltaic department, which is setting up 80 MW of PV installations. "The utility has the obligation of giving you a connection point to the grid."